John Malkovich Dresses Up as Batman Villain the Joker

After decades of a successful career in Hollywood, John Malkovich has become one of the few icons [...]

By Joe Schmidt

After decades of a successful career in Hollywood, John Malkovich has become one of the few icons left in Hollywood. So he teamed up with a photographer to channel some of the most iconic characters throughout the history of productions in Tinseltown — including Batman villain the Joker.

Malkovich worked with Sandro Miller, and in one of the most stunning photo series he takes on the appearance of Jack Nicholson's take on Joker from Tim Burton's 1989 movie. Take a look at the eerie photos below.

There's no doubt that Malkovich would have played a great Joker, but it seems unlikely that he'll get an opportunity in the future. For the last few portrayals, Warner Bros. and DC Comics have turned to younger actors like Heath Ledger and Jared Leto for their high-profile films in the franchise.

Now they're turning to Joaquin Phoenix to portray the origin of the Clown Prince of Crime in an origin film for Batman's greatest foe, with director Todd Phillips helming The Joker. It was a surprise when Warner Bros. announced an origin project focusing on a villain, and even more so when Phoenix was revealed to be playing the role.

But the actor opened up on his participation in The Joker, revealing why he decided to take the project.

"I wouldn't quite classify this as like any genre," Phoenix said in an interview with Collider. "I wouldn't say it's a superhero movie, or a studio movie or a … It feels unique, and I think more then anything, and probably the most important thing, is Todd seems very passionate about it and very giving, and so that's exciting. I think, underneath the excitement of these films, and the size of them, there are these incredible characters that are dealing with real life struggles. And sometimes that is uncovered and exposed, and sometimes it isn't, and so I always felt, like, there were characters in comics that were really interesting and deserve the opportunity to be kind of studied. And so I think that's what Todd sees appealing about this idea."

Fans will get to see what all of the fuss is about when The Joker opens in theaters on October 4, 2019. But if we're waiting for Malkovich to play the Clown Prince, well, don't hold your breath...

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